THE Health Ministry is taking several measures to tackle the high number of new Covid-19 cases in the Klang Valley, which has resulted in a shortage of beds in public hospitals, said Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah.

The director-general of health said the measures include outsourcing non-Covid-19 patients to private hospitals from Kuala Lumpur Hospital (HKL).

He said the ministry is also increasing the capacity of HKL to treat Covid-19 patients in categories 4 and 5.

These are the two most severe categories of Covid-19 patients where they need oxygen support and intensive care. 

“Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia Children’s Specialist Hospital’s (HPKK UKM) capacity will also be increased to treat more Covid-19 patients in these two categories,” he said in a statement today. 

Likewise, the ministry will also be ramping up the capacity of Hospital Selayang and Hospital Tengku Ampuan Rahimah Klang to treat Covid-19 patients.

And finally, he said, the ministry has repurposed Hospital Ampang as a Covid-19 hospital from June 30.

Noor Hisham said the number of Covid-19 patients, including suspected cases, are still high in the Klang Valley.

He said there are 1,224 Covid-19 patients, including suspected cases, in intensive care units (ICU) today, of which 567 of them are in the Klang Valley.

He said there are many critical patients who are still waiting for admission to wards and ICU at public hospitals in the Klang Valley due to lack of beds. 

Earlier today, Health Minister Dr Adham Baba said the current usage of patient beds, including repurposed beds, in hospitals in the Klang Valley, has now reached more than 85%.

He said by taking into account the need for extra beds, especially in ICU, the ministry will implement several immediate measures to address the unexpected high referral rate to public hospitals in the Klang Valley.

This includes outsourcing of non-Covid-19 patients to private hospitals to enable HKL to treat more Covid-19 patients. 

In addition, the capacity of ICU and non-ICU beds, including equipment and facilities such as ventilators in hospitals and university teaching hospitals such as HPKK UKM, Universiti Putra Malaysia Hospital and Universiti Teknologi Mara Hospital, will be increased to treat more Covid-19 patients.

“Another step is to provide temporary reassignment (mobilisation) of healthcare personnel, consisting of medical specialists and paramedics from other states, to support services at public hospitals and teaching hospitals that need additional staff to treat Covid-19 patients,” he said in a statement today.

Adham also said of the total Covid-19 cases handled by HKL, 71% were categories 3 to 5 patients while the rest are categories one and two patients.

Based on the latest records, the HKL emergency and trauma department receives between 60 and 70 Covid-19 patients daily, with an average of three categories 4 and 5 patients who need respiratory assistance in addition to being treated in the ICU.

Malaysia today reported 6,045 new Covid-19 cases in the past 24 hours, with Selangor continuing to account for the bulk of the cases.

The Klang Valley accounted for the highest number of infections with Selangor reporting 2,262 cases, followed by Kuala Lumpur with 616. – July 4, 2021.